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Kane sat bolt upright in bed at the sound of the 911 ringtone on his phone. His internal body clock that woke him at five each morning never failed. He turned on the bedside lamp and stared at the clock; it was four-forty-five. Grabbing his phone, he pushed back the blankets and sat on the edge of the bed. He took a pen and writing pad from his bedside table before accepting the call. “911 what is your emergency?”

“There’s a body.” A man gasped. “Oh, my Lord. A naked woman on the steps of the Black Rock Falls Daily.” He gave a moan of despair. “She’s smiling and her eyes… Oh sweet Jesus, they’re wide open.”

Making notes, Kane cleared his throat. “What is your name, sir, and I’ll need your details?”

“Barry Lynch. I’m the editor of the newspaper.” He was breathing hard as he reeled off his phone number and address. “This is the scoop of the century. I called the photographer and I’m getting a camera crew down here.”

Kane winced. “Please don’t do that, Mr. Lynch. I appreciate this being an important new story for you but if this woman is a victim of a crime, we’ll need to discover who hurt her. If you disturb the crime scene, valuable information will be lost. Tampering with a crime scene is an offense. I’ll have the ME on scene as soon as possible and I’ll notify the sheriff.” He sighed. “Please don’t touch anything. Hold the line for a minute, please.”

Kane dialed the landline, woke Rowley, and explained the emergency. “Get there now. You’ll need to prevent the media from disturbing the scene. I’ll contact Wolfe.”

“Copy that.” Rowley yawned. “I’m on my way.”

Kane made the call. With both Wolfe and Rowley living in town, they’d handle the situation until he arrived with Jenna. “Ah Mr. Lynch. The ME is on his way and Deputy Rowley. Please stay where you are and do not disturb the scene.”

“You can’t stop the press but I will keep my people a good distance away.” Mr. Lynch disconnected.

Kane called Jenna and with the phone on speaker, dashed around dressing. “I’m dressed. I’ll drop some hay into the horses before we leave. It will take me five minutes, max.”

“Sure, but have you looked outside? We won’t be going anywhere unless you clear the driveway first. Let’s hope the road into town is passable.” Jenna sounded wide awake. “Rowley can handle the media if they show and Wolfe is only five minutes away. By the time we get there, Wolfe will have processed the scene. I’ll go and feed the horses. You go out and clear the snow. I’m glad you purchased that attachment for your truck. I told you it would come in useful.” She disconnected.

“Uh-huh.” Kane stared at the phone and then at Duke in his basket, snoring softly. He shook his head. “Black Rock Falls, perfect one day, deadly snowscape the next.”

It was slow going into town and Kane was glad he’d rigged out his truck in the latest snow gear. He’d left Duke curled up asleep in his basket, his dog bowl filled and the heat on. The dog had shown little interest at the chance of leaving with him and buried his nose under his blanket. He’d be fine at home in the warm today. As they approached the newspaper office, he spotted a small crowd of people on the sidewalk, bathed in the glow of Wolfe’s powerful halogen lights. Yellow crime scene tape fluttered in the breeze and he made out Deputy Rowley’s cruiser in front of the stairs leading to the newspaper office with Wolfe’s van blocking the view of the body. He drove past and then mounted the sidewalk from the opposite end and parked. “It looks like they have everything under control.” He indicated to a silver Jeep Cherokee. “Emily is here as well.”

“No doubt Webber will be on scene soon. They are dedicated.” Jenna slipped from her seat and headed toward Rowley. “Check out the scene. I’ll speak to the witness.”

Kane followed and made his way between the vehicles. Wolfe had erected a screen in front of the victim and shadows moved around speaking in hushed tones. He peered around the screen and stopped dead. The young woman was posed. She sat on the steps, her elbows resting on one step and reclining as if enjoying the sun. Her mouth was turned up in a horrific grin and her wide eyes seemed to hold an astonished expression. Her skin was as if she’d been carved in marble, smooth and glistening with ice. Long snow-dusted black hair hung down to cover her breasts. Tattoos stood out against her pale skin. By her size, coloring, and ink, she had to be another victim of The Sculptor.

He did a visual scan of the area but all he could make out to the perimeter of the light was a thick coating of snow. He turned to look at the group of reporters, taking in the features of each one. Did they all belong with the media or was The Sculptor among them watching for a reaction to his latest work? He took out his phone to take a photograph and waved his arm. “Hey over here.”

As expected, they all turned as one to look at him and he captured the image. He stared at the photograph and all the faces shone back at him in the beam of Wolfe’s light. If The Sculptor was here, he had his picture and Jenna and Rowley would have taken all their names and contact details on arrival. An odd man out would be easy to check. He pocketed the phone and stood at the edge of the crime scene. “What have we got, Shane?”

“This one is different to the others in a number of ways.” Wolfe headed toward him. “At first I thought maybe a copycat but we didn’t release any crucial details and this one follows the killer’s MO to some degree. Once I get her back to the lab, I’ll be able to confirm my suspicions.”

Kane pushed his hands into the pockets of his jacket as a stinging cold breeze brought with it a flurry of snow. “That’s good to know.” He frowned. “What are your suspicions?”

“The body appears to be fresh.” Wolfe looked at him over his face mask. “As if someone snap froze her minutes after death, or before she died.” He shrugged. “It wouldn’t take long to freeze a woman with her body mass in this temperature. Faster still in the mountains. Anything from twenty minutes to a couple of hours.”

Kane looked at the victim and slowly back to Wolfe. “Did he use glue again?”

“It sure looks that way.” Wolfe frowned. “She was posed before rigor set in. The pinpoint hemorrhages in the conjunctiva of the eyes would indicate strangulation and hand marks are evident but again, I’d say he used gloves. I’ll be interested to see if she has a broken neck. The head isn’t sitting quite right.” He walked toward the body. “I’m just about finished here. Do you want to take a look at her in situ?”

“Yeah.” Kane followed him and examined the body. “She put up a fight. Her nails are broken.”

“Yeah, Wolfe squatted down beside the body. “See here, the marks on her neck? I’ll check for skin under her nails but we see this when a victim tries to pry the killer’s hands from around her neck. He has large hands and would have cut off the supply of blood to her brain. She could’ve died from asphyxiation or even a cardiac arrest. I’ll know more later today.”

Kane nodded. “Okay, how long will it take to discover if she died here? I mean if she doesn’t follow the pattern of thaw and freeze like before?”

“As soon as I take a tissue sample, I’ll know for sure.” Wolfe stood. “It will take a couple of days for her to thaw but once I remove the glue, we should be able to get a reasonable photograph of her. She must be someone’s

daughter.”

Kane glanced behind him as Jenna came around the screen. She stopped and stared in horror. He glanced back at Wolfe. “I hope someone has reported her missing.”

“How long before you can remove the body?” Jenna indicated over her shoulder with her thumb. “The vultures are circling. The TV crew followed the snowplow from Louan and I gave a ‘no-comment’ statement.”

“Now, if you’ve seen enough?” Wolfe turned to Kane. “I’ll leave you to bring Jenna up to speed.” He waved is interns over and they placed the body on a gurney and covered her with foil.


Tags: D.K. Hood Mystery